Content Warning: The Brutal Telling includes murder and mentions psychological abuse, animal abuse, and anti-gay bias.

In a log cabin in the Quebec wilderness, a frightening story is told of a coming danger that will wipe out entire communities. The Hermit has a mysterious object hidden away in a canvas bag, and Olivier Brulé wants it.

A dead body is found in Olivier’s bistro. Olivier sees that the man is the Hermit, but says he doesn’t recognize him. Sûreté Chief Inspector Armand Gamache is called to Three Pines to investigate the murder. When Gamache arrives at the scene, agent Isabelle Lacoste informs him and agent Jean Guy Beauvoir of what they know so far. The man was killed with a blow to the back of his head. The detectives haven’t found any sign of a murder weapon, or identified the victim. Neither the body nor the room show signs of a struggle. Gamache already has three suspects in mind.

The coroner, Dr. Harris, determines that the man died between midnight and five in the morning. The blow to his head is so intense that Gamache suspects anger motivated the murder.